Live blog - Pant, Axar, Kuldeep give Capitals tight win

In a thrilling finish at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Rashid Khan nearly took Gujarat Titans home in their pursuit of 225 against Delhi Capitals, but a yorker from Mukesh Kumar in the final ball thwarted that challenge and helped the hosts complete a thrilling four-run victory.

For Rashid to have a chance at chasing an improbable 19 runs off the final over, the Titans had B Sai Sudharsan (65) and David Miller (55) to thank. Their quick fifties kept Titans within touching distance of the climbing required run-rate, and for a brief moment at the end, it felt like they had timed their chase perfectly. However, that wasn't to be, and the Titans went down to the Capitals for the second time in seven days.

The Capitals themselves had to climb out of a hole to post 224 for 4 in the first innings. Sandeep Warrier's 3 for 15 in the powerplay had left the Capitals struggling at 44 for 3, but Rishabh Pant's masterful 43-ball 88 and Axar Patel's 66 from No. 3 resurrected their innings. Axar then took three catches, took one wicket, and ably supported Kuldeep Yadav (2 for 29) with the ball to ensure the Capitals did just about enough on the night.

It's all happening! Rashid Khan hits two fours, turns down two singles, and then clobbers another six to make the equation 5 off 1. But the final ball is a yorker ass Mukesh delivers a beautiful ball, and Rashid can't get under it.

Rasikh concedes 18 off five balls in the 19th over as Kishore pummels him for two sixes. But Rasikh doesn't lose heart, and bowls a yorker off the last ball. Knocks out Sai Kishore, leaving Titans needing 19 off the final over with Rashid Khan on strike.

The Titans have done well to stay 'alive' in this game and Mukesh Kumar is responsible for the 20th.

Twist in the tale? David Miller climbs into his countryman Anrich Nortje. Short balls pulled with disdain, full ball clattered down the V. Gets to his 50 in 21 balls as Nortje concedes 24 in the 17th over.

But Mukesh Kumar removes Miller next over for a 23-ball 55 to almost seal the deal for the Capitals.

Pant held Kuldeep back for his final over, and unleashes him against the dangerous Tewatia in the 16th. Kuldeep wins that battle by going wide outside off and inducing an edge to Pant. Takes a wicket off his final ball to finish with 2 for 28.

With seven fours and two sixes in 34 balls, B Sai Sudharsan was in cracking touch. But it ends at 69 in the 13th over.

Rasikh Salam, the man off whose bowling Sudharsan survived a dropped chance early because Axar failed to hold on, finally gets the wicket he deserves by dismissing the same batter. Bowls a delightful 107kph slower ball to deceive him. Coincidentally, the catcher on this occasion is also Axar.

Next over, Salam asks Rishabh Pant to stand up to the stumps, and gets Shahrukh Khan to edge behind. Titans slip to 139/5 in 14.1 overs as the RRR creeps up towards 15.

What a way for Axar Patel to get his 100th T20 catch. Jumps like a basketball dunker to pluck Saha trying to cut Kuldeep Yadav over cover. Makes up for the dropped Sudharsan catch off Salam in the powerplay!

Next over, Axar takes the ball and gets incoming batter Omarzai holing out to Fraser-McGurk at deep midwicket.

Titans slide from 94/1 to 98/3 as out-of-form David Miller joins Sudharsan (50* in 29 balls)

Pant introduces his trump card in the eighth over. The Capitals need to break this fluent stand. But the pair eke out eight in Kuldeep's first over. Titans 79/1 in eight overs

The Titans' tempo is good, but for the Capitals it's a vast improvement from their last game here where they conceded 125 in the first six against SRH.

The Capitals' bowling has blown hot and cold this season. They have the second-worst economy in the powerplay among all teams this season (10.37 before this game) but also have provided three of the four most economical powerplay bowling performances too.

Fast bowler Rasikh Salam has replaced Shaw as the Impact Player, and he could've had a wicket first ball when Sudharsan mistimed him to Axar at mid-on. But Axar fluffs it, juggling it a few times before the ball goes down.

To add insult to injury, Sudharsan smacks the next ball for four, followed by Saha's boundary later in the over.

Titans 60/1 in 5 overs with Saha on 30 in 12 balls.

He has been in the focus for his scoring rate, with a strike-rate of 126 in IPL 2024. Even though he has played crucial innings through the season to be among the runs, the big question has been whether he can play faster.

Today, he slaps Nortje for six over deep third to start his innings and then clatters the same bowler later in his spell for two fours. He currently stands on 17 in 9, and survives a catching chance off his tenth. Good omen for him to capitalise on a day he's looking fluent?

Coming into this game, Anrich Nortje had dismissed Shubman Gill three times in six innings (average 11.3). Today he makes it four in seven as a 147kph delivery is sliced by Gill to mid-off. Gill lasts only five balls in his 100th IPL outing.

The focus now shifts onto Wriddhiman Saha and B Sai Sudharsan, who have stayed aggressive despite that early wicket. Saha, in particular, takes on Khaleel Ahmed to ransack 17 runs off the third. Titans 41/1 in 3 overs

Titans got a few things wrong, you'd think. Mohit was given a fourth over despite conceding 42 in three. Gill could've gone to Sandeep Warrier (3-15 in three overs) who did not bowl out.

The Titans spinners (the much revered Titans spin group) failed to make an impact either. Noor and Sai Kishore (one over) were hammered to all parts while Rashid could not control the middle overs. You also wonder if Titans could've used Sai Kishore earlier in the game. In all, nine overs of spin brought Capitals 137 runs (RR 15.44).

Stat alert: Delhi Capitals' 53 runs in the last two overs are the most by any team in an IPL innings (19-20).

Oh my word - what a 20th over. Pant mauls Mohit for 31 to finish unbeaten on 88. Clubs four sixes and one four to not only take Capitals past 200 but setting a target of 225. He had an answer for everything that Mohit threw at him: wide yorkers, slower balls, bouncers, you name it.

Axar Patel talks to the broadcasters and says he was promoted since he enjoys playing against spin and knew the three spinners would have deliveries that would turn into his arc. He feels the target is more than enough.

Overs 1-6: 44/3 (run rate 7.33)
Overs 7-15: 83/0 (RR 9.22)
Overs 16-20: 97/1 (RR 19.5)

Ah, there he is. Gill brings in the left-arm spinner in the 19th over because right-hand batter Tristan Stubbs is on strike.

However, Stubbs is up for the challenge.

Creams an inside-out cover drive with the turn through extra cover. Follows it up with a six over midwicket. And then returns to his inside-out slap through the off side. To add insult to injury, hammers the bowler over long on to end the over, and that is the evening's most expensive so far.

22 off Sai Kishore's lone over and Capitals are 193/4 in 19 overs

The DC captain reaches his fifty in the best way possible - by depositing a six off his 34th ball over long on.

This was an important innings for his own confidence since he looked out of sorts in his last outing against SRH. That day he laboured to 44 and raised question marks over whether he is ready to last a full tournament. The response today, though, has been fabulous.

The gamble to push Axar at No. 3 has worked and how. He hits back-to-back sixes off Noor in the 17th over to reach his highest IPL score.

Beautiful batting against Noor here. Picks the googly to crunch it over midwicket. Then spots the legbreak to smack him over his head. But he eventualy holes out trying to make it a hat-trick of big shots.

Goes back fo a terrific 43-ball 66 as Noor exits the over with some smiles.

Capitals 157/4 in 17 overs with Stubbs joining Pant.

The partnership run-rate is over 9.5 as the pair bring up a 100-run stand. Massive partnership in a massive game for eighth-placed Capitals.

Remember how the Capitals slid from 34/0 to 44/3 in the powerplay? Seems a long time back the way Axar and Pant have batted in this stand.

Axar reaches his fifty in 37 balls while Pant is in his forties. They have successfully seen off four Rashid Khan overs for zero wickets and an economy of 8.75 per over. Noor hasn't bowled since he conceded 22 in two and Sai Kishore has not made an appearance.

The Capitals still have Stubbs and Porel to follow, so they have the license to move to fifth gear. On display in the 16th over when Pant hammers Mohit for two sixes in the 16th.

The Titans use a third spinner, but surprisingly it is part-timer Shahrukh Khan with his offspin, instead of left-arm spinner Sai Kishore.

Remember, Sai Kishore was the POTM in their last game for his 4 for 33, but perhaps the presence of two left-hand Indian batters has spooked the Titans thinktank.

Shahrukh concedes three in his first five balls, but then goes too full off the final delivery. Axar pummels him over cow corner. Capitals 120/3 in 14 overs

After scoring only 44 runs in the powerplay, the Capitals needed a boost after the field spread out. It was meant to be challenging against Rashid and Noor, but the pair of Axar-Pant have navigated that phase beautifully. The partnership is approaching 70 now with both batters in their thirties.

From 9 off 15 balls, Axar Patel has clattered the spinners away to move to 31 in 25. His stroke-making has quietly allowed Pant to find his feet. Pant hits a six off Noor in the 11th to move to 19 off 13 balls.

Axar's promotion a genius move from the Capitals? Capitals 93/3 in 11 overs

Rashid Khan has a favourable match up against left-handers Axar and Pant. Coming into this game, both batters had strike-rates of under 110 against the wristspinner.

But today, the pair - Axar especially - has taken a liking to Rashid. One six and two fours in the Afghan's first two overs mean he concedes 0/22 in his first 12 balls.

Sandeep Warrier has been creating chances but he wouldn't have the wickets without the smart work from his fielders. He gets a third over in the powerplay and gets a ball to move away from Shai Hope. Hope tries to make full use of the final powerplay over but ends up slicing the shot playing away from his body.

Rashid Khan, at deep third, scurries around to take a sliding catch. Capitals 44/3 inside the powerplay with Pant now joining Axar.

The allrounder has walked in ahead of Hope, Stubbs, Pant, and Porel. He has scored only 57 runs in six innings this season.

Is this the Capitals' plans to unlock Axar, the batter? He may enjoy playing free-flowing strokes against the newer ball, and the Capitals would like him to utilise the powerplay. This promotion is clearly some sort of new strategy to get more out of him. Let's see if it works out...

In the same over as the Fraser-McGurk dismissal, Warrier goes short to Shaw, and his pull is mis-hit. Noor Ahmad runs in from deep square leg and slides forward to take a low catch with the fingers grazing the grass.

He's not confident about the cleanliness of the catch, but the TV umpire comes to his rescue. Says there's a fingertip underneath and Warrier picks up two wickets in one over.

A massive fourth over from GT's perspective. They slide from 34 for no loss to 36 for 2. Shai Hope now joins No. 3 Axar.

Let's have a look at a terrific fourth over.

Sandeep Warrier has not had an easy initiation into the GT set up. His 2/40 against DC was followed by a 21-run over against SRH after which he did not get to deliver a second over.

Today, too, he conceded 12 in his first over, but a full slower ball from the fast bowler sends Fraser-McGurk packing for 23. Fraser-McGurk was through the flick too quickly, and is left outfoxed by the deception.

He will open alongside Prithvi Shaw. Shaw, on the other hand, has a first-ten-ball SR of only 139.

Shaw begins the run-scoring with a four early before Fraser-McGurk pumps 4, 4, 6 across two overs to take the Capitals to 22/0 in two overs. JFM did survive a catching chance in the first over at midwicket, which fell just beyond Rashid Khan. Doubt that chance will stop the youngster from playing his shots.

The veteran opener made 1, 8, 10, 18 in his last four games. He hasn't looked the same since he picked up a finger injury while fielding.

This decision might've become easier with the emergence of Jake Fraser-McGurk. The top-order batter has looked comfortable in the step-up to the IPL.

Gill says no changes as he chooses to chase.

Pant says "good toss to lose, wanted to bat first anyway." Two changes for them: Sumit Kumar and Shai Hope return.

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Shai Hope, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Abishek Porel, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Mukesh Kumar, 11 Khaleel Ahmed. Impact Subs: Sumit, Rasikh, Kushagra, Dubey and Lalit

Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha, 3 Azmatullah Omarzai, 4 David Miller, 5 Shahrukh Khan, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 R Sai Kishore, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Sandeep Warrier. Impact Subs: Sharath, Shankar, Suthar, Sudharsan and Nalkande

Gill has received a special memento in the GT huddle this evening. He made his debut in IPL 2018 and ever since his debut has been practically undroppable at either KKR or GT. "It means a lot to me. I have come a long way, but have a long way to go," he says at the toss.

His numbers so far: 99 matches, 3088 runs, average 38.12, SR 135.30, centuries 3, fifties 20

April 17 was not a day to remember for the Titans as they crashed to the season's lowest total.

The Capitals' bowling dazzled that day in Ahmedabad. However, the Capitals also conceded 266 in their next game against SRH. So the last seven days have seen them hit high points as well as lows. Which version of the Capitals will come out today?